What Can a Mayor Do About Climate Change?

Local Leadership in an Age of Climate Change Tough Choices: What Can Menlo Park Do About Climate Change? Presentation to the Menlo Park Rotary Elton B. Sherwin July 21, 2010

Agenda  The problem  What cities can do

We Are Leaving Our Children a Different Planet Muir & Riggs Glaciers Alaska

The North Pole is Disappearing Missing Ice North Pole NASA

Greenland is Melting Image: Roger Braithwaite, University of Manchester (UK)

What is Going on?

We Are Burning Too Much Stuff

Why Does it Matter? Greenhouse Effect Graphic from www.solcomhouse.com

CO2 Tasteless Odorless Non toxic Invisible (lets visible light through) Traps Infrared Heat Lasts for Many Decades

CO2 is the Byproduct of the Combustion

Simple Greenhouse Effect CO2 Graphic modified from www.stopglobalwarming.com.au

Some CO2 is Good CO2 Graphic modified from www.stopglobalwarming.com.au

Double CO2 from 1800’s Will Not Be Good CO2 Ken Caldeira ºC Carnegie Institution -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 at Stanford Univ.

"For the first time in human history, science has shown that we are altering the destiny of our planet… It’s quite alarming.” Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy and Nobel Laureate From his remarks to scientists and staff at the Stanford Linear Accelerator in Palo Alto. June 26, 2009

California

July Temperatures California’s agricultural regions will be hard hit 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation

Midcentury Increase of 5 Degrees Fahrenheit 5+ 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation

Could See Increases of 10 to 14 Degree Fahrenheit in Central Valley* 10+ 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy *“Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California” Christopher B. Field and 17 coauthors, June 23, 2004, PNAS

Smaller snowpack More water shortages Less water for agriculture “Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California” Christopher B. Field and 17 coauthors, June 23, 2004, PNAS

16 Inches Vallejo of Sea Rise San Rafael Oakland San Francisco San Jose SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002. Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. http://www.bcdc.ca.gov/planning/climate_change/climate_change.shtml

16 Inches of Sea Rise Foster City Menlo Park East Palo Alto SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002. Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

Sun, Google, and, Cisco all at risk Moffett Field 237 SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002. Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

North Bay 16 Inches of Sea Rise Vallejo SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002. Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

North Bay 16 Inches of Sea Rise San Rafael Richmond Larkspur Corte Madera SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002. Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

It Is Not Just the West Coast

Many cities at risk • Miami • Key West • Tampa • New York • Venice • Amsterdam

In 150 years, students may study New Orleans like Carthage: A city that no longer exists

21st Century  More intense precipitation  Bigger storms  Longer droughts  Shorter snow season  More flooding  Rising ocean  Animals, plants and insects moving

World’s Poor Hard Hit Move 17 million people this century?

Tipping Points Are Irreversible Thresholds Hour and Day Is Impossible to Predict

Greenland Contains Enough Ice to Raise the Ocean 22 feet If Ice Sheets Collapse the Consequences are Huge NSF Website and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Image: Roger Braithwaite, University of Manchester (UK)

Acidification and Warming of the Ocean Risk of some piece of the ecosystem collapsing NOAA

“The climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear and there is a potential for explosive changes, effects that would be irreversible” James Hansen, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies The Observer, February 15, 2009,

“A common misperception is that this is a crisis that is down the road. “Climate change is real. It's happening now.” Senator John McCain August 24, 2009 LA Times Kristen Wyatt Associated Press http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-global- warming-national-parks,0,6162897.story

Time Out For Good News

Why is This Happening? Unprecedented levels of wealth  Capitalism won  Unparalleled economic growth Modern medicine and public health  Cured small pox (almost Polio)  Live longer  Population grow to 9+ billion

Everyone Wants to Live Like Us  Need nine planets

What Can Our Little Town Do? We can improve the efficiency of our buildings

Why Buildings? Buildings are a huge problem:  Largest source of CO2 in America  Largest users of coal world-wide

Sounds Simple: Make Buildings More Efficient

Must reduce Consumption Everywhere  Old  Retail  New  Residential  Commercial  Schools  Government

No City Has Ever Succeeded

How Do you Motivate Building Owners to Take Action?

Grade Our Buildings

We Grade Our Children

Do We Have the Courage to Grade Our Buildings?

Grades Motivate Change  Motivates owners  Motivates tenants

Recommended Format Local comparison National standard • Source energy (per sq ft.) – Scores above 80 are good, below 70 are poor Response to the National Energy Rating Program for Homes RFI 82 By Elton Sherwin

People Here Like Good Grades This will motivate a lot of change World-wide it might be more effective than cap and trade Response to the National Energy Rating Program for Homes RFI 84 By Elton Sherwin

21st Century  More intense precipitation  Bigger storms  Longer droughts  Shorter snow season  More flooding  Rising ocean  Animals, plants and insects moving

What Can Our Town Do? Let’s start by grading our buildings based on how much energy they use

Now is the Time to Take Action “Temperature, rainfall, and sea level are largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are completely stopped.” “There’s no going back.” The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) January 26, 2009

Appendix

Why Grades Based on Energy? Energy => CO2 => Environmental Damage Awards based on anything other than actual energy consumption are not helpful. Image: Roger Braithwaite, University of Manchester (UK)

For more information, see Response to the National Energy Rating Program for Homes Request for Information By Elton Sherwin Full response is available at www.EltonSherwin.com and at www.slideshare.net/EltonSherwin

Soot and Smoke Also Damage Our Environment (Soot) World- wide Next 20 Years

Garbage and Methane Also Matter Garbage generates a lot of methane

Top 10 Recommendations for Cities 1. Eliminate all methane (dumps and food scraps) 2. Eliminate all soot (diesel & fireplaces) 3. Publish & post energy grades of buildings www.Amazon.com www.EltonSherwin.com  This presentation  More on building grading  What are Your Home’s Top Energy Wasters?  What are Your Company’s Top Energy Wasters?

CO2 Emissions: Circled sources are mostly buildings US DOE. CO2 in America. Excludes other greenhouse pollutants: methane, Soot, CFCs, etc. Also excludes embedded energy in imports and most impacts from Agriculture.

Which Building Types Use the Most Energy Overall?

Which Building use the Most Energy per Square Foot?

Electricity Consumption in Healthcare Buildings

Excludes embedded energy in imports and most impacts from agriculture.

Checklists www.EltonSherwin.com  What Can Cities and Counties Do?  Simple Green Building Code  Homes  Commercial Property  What are Your Company’s Top www.Amazon.com Energy Wasters?  Schools and public buildings  What are Your Home’s Top Energy Wasters?  How Do I Find the Energy Hogs in My House?  Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

What Can a Mayor Do About Climate Change?

by Elton Sherwin on Oct 02, 2010

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What Can a Mayor Do About Climate Change? — Presentation Transcript